By Devonte Demby

The Natchez Democrat

NATCHEZ — Fewer students are attending Mississippi’s Community Colleges and that’s no different in Natchez.

Enrollment fell for the fourth straight year at the state’s 15 community colleges.

Preliminary counts released last week show the number of students fell 1.8 percent at the community colleges to 76,266.

Students flocked to Mississippi’s community colleges and universities during the recession, trying to improve their job credentials. But leaders say a falling unemployment rate and restrictions on federal student aid may be cutting enrollment at community colleges.

Being one of the 15 community colleges in Mississippi, Copiah-Lincoln Community College in Natchez is down by 50 students.

Co-Lin has three campuses located in Wesson, Simpson and Natchez.

Enrollment is down at all three campuses by 4.4 percent for the fall 2014-estimated enrollment.

Co-Lin Natchez Vice President Teresa Busby said that they would have a true picture of the enrollment rate after the sixth week of this semester.

“Anybody after those six weeks are staying and can be counted in Co-Lin’s audited numbers, which are the numbers Co-Lin gets reimbursed on,” she said.

Busby speculated that enrollment in all Mississippi community colleges are down because of a change in Pell Grant regulations, which is money the U.S. federal government provides for students who need it to pay for college, and the struggling economy.

Busby said instead of students seeking a college education, many are opting to dive into various jobs to support themselves or their families.

“Often times, they will take a full time job at minimum wage — rather than come to school,” Busby said. “Because at least they are contributing something to their families — times are hard right now.”

College aged students and nontraditional students realize they need an education to do better for themselves and their families. But when you are the sole provider for your family, you are going to take a job, Busby said.

During the fall of 2010, Co-Lin Natchez maintained fewer than 1,000 students on campus and 951 after the sixth week.

Now in the fall of 2014, Co-Lin currently has 624 students.

These numbers may change after the sixth week.

“That’s an incredible drop,” the vice president said. “There are a lot of things going on that affects our enrollment.”

Busby said students attend community colleges because they realize that the two-year schools are academically strong and a valuable option for lower cost in tuition.

However, both Mississippi community colleges and some universities have seen a decrease in students.

“I do think people are opting to go to work instead of school due to the country’s economic decline,” Busby said.

Busby feels now is the time to get creative to help individuals who wish to attend college, but can’t be there at the moment.

“We are looking at hybrid classes,” she said. “The idea of a hybrid is that it meets at least 50 percent of work in the classroom. The other part of that can be outside assignments such as online and research assignments.”

Instead of sitting all night through night class, this will help nontraditional students who work all day be able to get the material they need within an hour or two, and then be given another outside assignment so they can get home to their families.

“You still get the same intense curriculum, but we divided it up,” Busby said.

Co-Lin offers day, evening, hybrid and online classes.

Co-Lin President Ronnie Nettles said that the enrollment drop has been quite the trend for all Mississippi community colleges.

“This is a district wide drop and has been a three year trend,” said Nettles. “This is true for every community college.”